How can Systems Engineering managers ensure team safety?

1 Identify and assess hazards

The first step to ensure team safety is to identify and assess the potential hazards that the team may encounter during the system development, testing, operation, and disposal. Hazards can be physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, psychological, or social, and can affect the health, well-being, and performance of the team members. SE managers should use systematic methods and tools, such as hazard analysis, risk assessment, fault tree analysis, and failure modes and effects analysis, to identify the sources, causes, and consequences of hazards, and to evaluate their likelihood and severity. SE managers should also involve the team members in the hazard identification and assessment process, as they may have valuable insights and experience.

4 Communicate and coordinate

The fourth step to ensure team safety is to communicate and coordinate effectively with the team members and other stakeholders. Communication and coordination are essential for sharing information, knowledge, and feedback on safety issues, for resolving conflicts and problems, and for ensuring alignment and collaboration. SE managers should use various channels and methods, such as meetings, reports, emails, chats, or dashboards, to communicate and coordinate with the team members and other stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, regulators, or users. SE managers should also ensure that the communication and coordination are timely, accurate, consistent, and respectful, and that they address the needs and expectations of the different parties.

5 Evaluate and improve

The fifth step to ensure team safety is to evaluate and improve the safety performance and outcomes of the team and the system. Evaluation and improvement are necessary for measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the safety processes and controls, for identifying and correcting the gaps and weaknesses, and for enhancing the safety knowledge and capabilities. SE managers should use various metrics and indicators, such as safety audits, inspections, surveys, or statistics, to evaluate and improve the safety performance and outcomes of the team and the system. SE managers should also use various methods and tools, such as lessons learned, root cause analysis, or continuous improvement, to evaluate and improve the safety processes and controls. SE managers should also solicit and incorporate the feedback and suggestions of the team members and other stakeholders to evaluate and improve the safety culture and communication.

6 Adapt and innovate

The sixth step to ensure team safety is to adapt and innovate in response to the changing needs, conditions, and opportunities. Adaptation and innovation are important for coping with the uncertainty, complexity, and dynamism of the system environment, for addressing the emerging or unforeseen hazards, and for exploiting the potential benefits and advantages. SE managers should foster a culture of adaptation and innovation within the team and the organization, by encouraging the team members to explore, experiment, and learn from new ideas, methods, or technologies, by providing the team members with the resources, support, and flexibility to implement and test their solutions, and by recognizing and rewarding the team members for their creativity and initiative.